North Dakota

Black Leg Ranch

Location: Sterling, North Dakota
Website: https://blacklegranch.com/
500K YouTube video views

The Doans founded Black Leg Ranch in North Dakota back in 1882, with a dream of raising the first Black Angus Cattle in the region. Six generations later, their descendants still sell beef and buffalo meat grown on the 20,000-acre ranch. They’ve also branched out beyond ranching to add an on-site event space, tours, a hunting outfit, and a brewery. “Our family is known for taking risks,” says Jeremy Doan, who co-owns the ranch with his dad and brothers. “In our community, small businesses are the driving force for jobs, for paying the taxes on the land, and keeping generations coming back.”

The Doans have used digital tools for decades, changing strategies along the way. Jeremy says video is now an important way to generate excitement and reach a new generation of customers. The ranch creates YouTube videos of visitors and events to share in their newsletters; the videos have been seen a half-million times so far, and generate 10 percent of their yearly business. “YouTube has helped us show what we do, so we spend less time talking and sending emails,” Jeremy says. “People share our YouTube videos with their friends and family. People come to us and say ‘Hey, I want to do exactly what they did in the video.’” Online search has also helped them fill gaps during slower seasons, boosting sales by an extra 10 percent a year. “If we have bison or deer hunts that aren't selling, we just post a Google Ad to target certain keywords and consumers. Typically we fill those spots within a few days,” says Jeremy. He says experimenting with ways to reach customers allows them to keep building and bettering Black Leg Ranch. “Hopefully this will keep it fun for future generations and profitable at the same time.”

dogIDs.com

Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Website:
+1.5M views on YouTube

Clint Howitz, self-described pack leader at dogIDs, can’t remember a time when he didn’t have dogs. Often frustrated by low-quality pet products, Clint founded dogIDs in 2005 to provide rugged dog tags, water- and odor-proof collars, leashes, and other high-quality canine wares. “I realized there was a strong need for personalized dog products, especially collars,” he recalls. Their signature ScruffTag collar, with built-in nameplate, is a hit, along with embroidered collars. Initially using an online marketplace model, selling other brands as well as their own, dogIDs has used Google Ads since 2007 to reach customers nationwide and in Canada, and 30 percent of sales now come from Google Ads. To connect with each other and with their marketing and manufacturing partners, dogIDs uses Google Meet. Four-legged team members, whose job titles include “The Fetch Monster” and “The Fun Police,” are always on call for product testing.

dogIDs gets almost all their supplies from U.S. sources, and partners with regional artisans for designs. They posted their first YouTube video in 2010, and their channel now has over 1.5 million views and pushes traffic to their website. “The videos offer tips to customers on things like how to size their dog or wash a collar, providing good customer service while also reducing phone time,” explains Clint. In 2021, dogIDs transitioned away from the marketplace model to focus solely on their own brand. “It’s now the craft business it was meant to be,” Clint says. “It’s much healthier, and we are poised to grow product lines and revenue.” That’s good news for their charity partners, like The Grey Muzzle Organization, which aims to improve the lives of at-risk senior dogs. In 2021, customer donations to Grey Muzzle were dogIDs’ number three “product,'' and their “Paw It Forward” program matches 10 percent–something even “The Fun Police” can endorse.

Bushel

Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Website: https://bushelpowered.com/
186 employees

When you hear “tech startup,” North Dakota agriculture may not come to mind. But when Jake Joraanstad and Ryan Raguse met in college and launched a joint mobile technology venture, their farming roots steered them toward ag. They knew that while physical infrastructure for moving grain—such as highways and barges—was well-developed, digital infrastructure was lacking. In 2017, Jake and Ryan founded Bushel, a Fargo-based platform that empowers farmers with tools and real-time data such as scale tickets or inventories, and giving grain companies an efficient way to connect to growers and processors. They used YouTube to engage customers and introduce new products and training videos. Insights from Google Analytics helped them tweak their YouTube Ads for increased watch-times and conversions. Within two years, 25,000 farmers were using their app. “The access and control the farmers now have lets them make informed decisions,” Jake says. “They can talk to the grain company more strategically.”

When COVID-19 disrupted industries nationwide, including ag, Bushel proved their worth. “The products and platform we brought to market solved real problems,” Jake says. Contracts could be handled electronically and farmers could receive automated updates about new safety protocols and more, keeping grain moving efficiently. He adds, “The tools we created helped this industry segment navigate the pandemic.” Net new users increased by 50 percent, with 40,000 farmers and 1,700 U.S. and Canadian locations now on the platform. The company itself, which had always used Google Workspace products for business operations, was able to keep functioning—and grow—by using the collaborative nature of Workspace to work remotely. It also enabled them to hire team members with ag expertise in different U.S. locations. “With Workspace we’ve been able to scale efficiently,” Jake says, “and the collaborative tools are indispensable.”

Prairie Fire Pottery

Location: Beach, North Dakota
Website: www.prairiefirepottery.com
Prairie Fire Pottery serves more than 20,000 customers annually

Tama Smith was working in advertising in Grand Forks, North Dakota, when she had an aha moment. “I wanted to go back to school and study art,” she recalled. At the encouragement of her husband, Jerry DeMartin, who Tama calls “her biggest supporter,” she earned a fine arts degree, specializing in pottery. Thirty-five years later, she is still doing what she loves as the owner of Prairie Fire Pottery. Tama handles the pottery studio, and Jerry runs the business side. Together, they have created a must-stop attraction for travelers passing through the upper Midwest.

To ensure that potential clients’ road trip plans include a stop at Prairie Fire Pottery, they use a website and an array of digital tools. “Our biggest challenge is to communicate effectively with the traveling public,” said Jerry. “We have to tell them who we are, what we have, and how to find us. Google does all those things and then some.” Prairie Fire Pottery relies on Google My Business along with Google Search and Maps. “Google Maps puts us right there on tourists’ phones as they head down the road,” said Jerry. “It tells them everything they want to know, including store hours.” Google also allows customers to write reviews, and Prairie Fire Pottery has proudly earned a five-star rating. “We get a lot of credibility from having five stars with Google,” Jerry said. Prairie Fire Pottery also uses Google Search Console to monitor its search ranking by keyword, Google Alerts to inform them when they are mentioned online, and Google Drive to back up the website. Recently, they also began Google Ads to reach even more customers who are in search of handmade pottery. “Until now, we’ve been concentrating on organic search results,” he said. “Now that we’ve secured that organic standing, we’re moving on to paid search.”

Prairie Fire Pottery has experienced 600% revenue growth since it first launched online in 1999. “That’s about a 5-10% growth rate per year,” said Jerry. Prairie Fire Pottery serves 14,000 digital visitors annually and an additional 10,000 who visit its popular brick-and-mortar location. “That’s 10,000 people who might not otherwise have stopped here, but now they do,” he said. “And once they’ve stopped in Beach, they discover other stores and restaurants in town.” Prairie Fire Pottery plans to keep using digital tools to reach pottery lovers far and wide. “In the old days, tourists would’ve been one-time customers, but not anymore. Now, we’re able to not only find customers but develop ongoing relationships with them — and that’s all because of Google.”

Heat Transfer Warehouse

Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Website: www.heattransferwarehouse.com
40 employees

Kirk Anton returned to Fargo in 2009 because of his father’s ill health. With the city faring better than many others during the recession, he decided to stay and look around for local business opportunities. Because Kirk had experience in warehouse distribution, his friends suggested that he create a one-stop shop for heat transfer materials used in the garment and textile decorating industries. He took their advice and, together with Co-founder Tricia Huson, launched Heat Transfer Warehouse in 2010. “It was just us, the dog, and a telephone,” Kirk recalls. “We began importing heat-applied films, reducing them to the quantities and sizes people wanted, and calling potential clients.”

Heat Transfer Warehouse has had a website since day one but did not begin marketing online until 2013. AdWords, Google’s advertising program, “was the first platform we went to,” Kirk says. “I remember setting up our first ad campaign and waking up the following morning to a $700 sale. That was a magical moment for us, because we realized then that we could market our products 24/7.” By April of the following year, Heat Transfer Warehouse stopped taking orders over the phone and went completely digital. About 35 percent of the company’s sales now come through AdWords. “And we get about seven to twelve times the return on investment,” Kirk notes. They have added Google Shopping campaigns to their advertising mix, optimize their web presence using insights from Google Analytics, and even share helpful content like heat application tutorials on YouTube.

The company today is on a “hyperbolic growth curve,” says Kirk. They have averaged 70 percent growth over the past four years, and have gone from “two people and their dog” to a forty-person team. With locations in Florida, Kentucky, Nevada, and North Dakota, they now service over 85,000 customers across the globe. To fellow entrepreneurs who wish to follow in their footsteps, Kirk recommends “surrounding yourself with people you can learn from and who will support you.” For Kirk and Tricia, that sense of community came from the people of Fargo. “Everyone here wants you to succeed, and they want to hear your story. It’s like a big small town in that sense,” he explains. “So it means a lot that we’re able to grow in Fargo, hire local students, and contribute to the city’s entrepreneurial energy. It’s the best part.”

Pedigree Technologies

Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Website: www.pedigreetechnologies.com
65 employees

Powerful innovations have long come from American garages, and Fargo's Pedigree Technologies is no exception. Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Alex Warner, Pedigree Technologies brings cutting-edge remote-monitoring and asset-tracking solutions to life. “It's pretty exciting to see a product you’ve built changing businesses and making lives easier,” says Director of Product Management Josh DeCock. Today, their technology is used by companies all across North America to keep track of high value assets—everything from trucks to construction equipment—and diagnose problems remotely. “In the beginning, most of our customers were regional. We now have a much larger customer base with global reach,” Josh remarks.

To get this far, Pedigree Technologies has relied on the Internet to keep their own business operations as innovative and dynamic as their products. They use AdWords, Google's advertising program, to target and attract customers. “On any given month, 33 percent of our traffic has been from Google Search and AdWords,” explains Marketing Manager Clay Kraby. “They’re the biggest sources of traffic to our site.” Google Analytics helps them track their website performance just as closely as their clients' equipment. They also share eye-catching tutorial videos on YouTube and collaborate in real time with G Suite tools Gmail, Docs, and Drive. “Google's products are robust, reliable, trustworthy, and just make things much simpler to do,” Josh says.

With over 450 customers across the United States and Canada, Pedigree Technologies has long outgrown their garage. Half of their marketing budget is now committed to digital, driving 50 percent annual growth and fueling hiring initiatives to keep pace with their ever-increasing demand. They also have countless stories about how their products are impacting people’s lives. “We’ve been able to save people’s jobs,” says Marketing Management Director April Dennis. “Following truck accidents, for instance, our technology has been used to prove that drivers were driving just as they should’ve been and that the accidents were out of their control.” With plans to introduce several new lines of high-tech products this year, Pedigree Technologies can expect many more stories about how they’re improving operational efficiency and safety for their customers. “A lot of really cool things are coming down the road,” Josh says. “We’re excited to see them come to fruition and make a difference.”

Mighty Missouri Coffee Co.

Location: Bismarck, North Dakota
Website: www.mightymocoffee.com
2 employees

Brian Jackson believes a cup of coffee should delight the senses, get the blood pumping, and inspire possibilities. "I grew up on Lake Sakakawea with a strong sense of the spirit of adventure," says Brian, an avid swimmer, cyclist, and runner. After graduating from college, Brian wanted to start a company inspired by his love for the rugged outdoors. He founded the Mighty Missouri Coffee Co. in 2013, paying homage to the river that runs through Bismarck. He imports what he calls "Third Wave, origin-centric" coffee from all over the world. The company mantra—"Another day, another adventure"—is stamped on every bag.

This speciality craft roaster relies on the Internet to keep business percolating. “In lieu of a brick-and-mortar store, our online presence becomes our storefront," Brian says. "Our focus is on Google advertising and social media marketing campaigns.” He used AdWords, Google's advertising program, to help launch the brand. Now they enjoy robust online sales and distribute to coffee shops and grocery stores throughout the Dakotas, with AdWords bringing in more than half of the website’s visitors. Google Maps shows coffee lovers where they can buy "Mighty Mo" blends, while Google Analytics shows Brian where website traffic is coming from. Gmail and Google Docs keep him and his partners connected.

In the spirit of giving back, Brian partnered with Nashville-based charity Blood:Water, donating a portion of online sales toward clean-water efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. "Doing good" resonates with customers, and within two months of rolling out the partnership with AdWords and social media campaigns, online sales jumped 50%. Brian also sells music that complements his coffee and is building a YouTube channel to showcase musicians. His brand is an experience he plans to share with a larger national audience, with the help of Google My Business tools. "When I go back to Lake Sakakawea and I have Mighty Missouri Coffee right there with me, it's sort of surreal," he says. "This is my dream."